Russia hit Ukraine's airports in the capital Kyiv and the nearby town of Boryspil ahead of visits to Moscow and Kyiv by U.S. President Donald Trump's special envoy Steve Witkoff and his son-in-law Jared Kushner, President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Saturday.
Ukraine's airspace has been closed since Russia's full-scale invasion in February 2022. But Zelensky said that officials had discussed the possibility of Witkoff and Kushner using a plane for their expected visit to Kyiv on Sunday.
“Clearly, these Russian strikes on the airports are a reaction to the discussions and preparations for the possibility of the U.S. side using an aircraft to travel to Ukraine and land at Kyiv Airport or Boryspil Airport,” Zelensky said on Telegram. “Russian-Iranian Shaheds (drones) in response to American diplomacy.”
Elsewhere, a Russian ballistic missile strike on a Ukrainian steel plant in the eastern Dnipro region killed five people, damaged production facilities and infrastructure, forcing a halt to all operations, steel producer Metinvest said on Saturday.
“This is yet another attack on a civilian Metinvest steelmaking asset and further evidence of Russia’s systematic strikes against Ukraine’s industrial base,” the company said in a statement. It said the Kamet Steel plant produced pig iron and steel exclusively for civilian purposes.
